T h E g r E A T E r D E S M O I N E S Jewish Press

Elul/Tishri/Cheshvan 5771 September/October 2010

t h e g r eate r des moines

Jewish Press

Published as a Community Service by the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines online at ? volume 27 number 1

The shofar

is an instrument made from the horn of a ram or other kosher animal. It was used in ancient Israel to announce the New Moon and call people together. It was also blown on Rosh Hashanah, marking the beginning of the New Year, signifying both need to wake up to the call to repentance, and in connection with the portion read on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Binding of Isaac (Genesis, chapter 22) in which Abraham sacrifices a ram in place of his son, Isaac.

Today, the shofar is featured most prominently in the Rosh Hashanah morning services. It is considered a commandment to hear the shofar blown. The person who blows the shofar must blow blasts of different timbre, some deep, some high, some quavering.

According to Leo Rosten, "The bend in the shofar is supposed to represent how a human heart, in true repentance, bends before the Lord."

L'Shanah Tovah!

5771

Happy New Year from the Jewish Federation Board and Staff!

Rosh HaShanah

begins the evening of Sept 8

Yom Kippur

begins the evening of Sept 17

Sukkot

begins the evening of Sept 22

Simchat Torah

begins the evening of Oct 1

Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines 910 Polk Boulevard Des Moines, IA 50312-2297

Address Service Requested

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

Paid Des Moines, IA Permit No. 2506

[inside]

7 Torah Talk: David Friedgood 10Engman Camp Shalom 12 David Moskowitz on Mel Gibson 13 Chef Du Jour: Marilyn Hurwitz 20IJHS Jews Love Baseball event

"my federation..."

"Camp is fun all the time." ? Sam Cline (age 5, Engman Camp Shalom)

Thank you for supporting the All-In-One Campaign

Share your story. Tell us how the Jewish Federation has impacted your life. Send an e-mail to tom@ or call Tom Wolff at (515) 277-6321 x 222.

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Message from the President

New Beginnings

Judy Deutch President

What has your Federation done lately?

? In early August, as in the past number of years, JCRC facilitated a meeting of Iowa Jewish leadership, from nine communities in Iowa in which there is a synagogue, to discuss matters of mutual communal interest. This year, Lyanna Lindgren, director of the Jewish Federation Community School, led a discussion about Jewish education. (see below)

? Campers at Engman Camp Shalom and our Seniors enjoyed lunch together at The Caspe Terrace. The campers decorated the food containers, sat with the Seniors during lunch and sang for them. Pat Nawroki, our social worker, is planning additional shared activities between our youth and our Seniors.

When we welcome the New Year, we think of new beginnings. One "beginning" I am very excited about is the new building for our Jewish Federation Community School.

As some of you might know, a group of young families wanted improved classrooms for their children and proposed the building of a new school wing at Caspe. Our Federation Board and the Foundation Board initially approved this project and this spring the Boards from B'nai Jeshurun and Tifereth Israel have also voted in favor of moving the school to The Caspe. Additionally, parents and classroom teachers were polled and they overwhelmingly supported a new school at Caspe. We have received pledges from several very generous donors.

A group of dedicated volunteers, headed by Steven Goldstein, have spent countless hours and dollars to help this project become a reality.

But, there is still a great deal to do. As we plan to build and furnish our new school, we need both your input and financial assistance. Please share your ideas by e-mailing Lyanna Lindgren, director of the Jewish Federation Community School, jfcsdm@ or Steven Goldstein, Project Chair, sjgoldstein@ Your contributions will help build a wonderful facility that will be vital in educating our youth. On behalf of the Federation's Board of Directors, I wish each of you a happy and healthy New Year.

? Shalom, Judy

Thanks

Elaine and Shayna Steinger would like to thank everyone in the community for their kindness, sympathy and support as we grieve the loss of our daughter and sister, Jessica.

Iowa Jewish Leaders Meet

Kever Avot Community Memorial Service Sept 5

will be held Sunday, September 5th. 12:30 pm at Woodland Cemetery. 1:00 pm at Jewish Glendale Cemetery.

FUNDING EXTENSION PASSES

The Jewish Federations of North Americ hailed vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to approve a six-month extension of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) as a victory for the neediest members of our society. FMAP is the formula used to determine the amount of federal funds provided to each state to support their Medicaid program. This legislation, approved in a special House session, also provides additional education funding, enabling states to save more than 140,000 at-risk education jobs.

Correction

In the July/August edition of the Jewish Press we inadvertently switched the captions on the photos donated by Lora Lee Spiro. The photo labeled "The 1989 Bat Mitzvah Class at Tifereth Israel," should have been labeled "The 1994 Choir at Tifereth Israel Synagogue," and vice versa. Our apologies for the error.

On August 1, twenty Jewish community leaders from nine communities in Iowa gathered at the Hillel house in Iowa City for an annual meeting. Representing Des Moines were Rabbi David Kaufman, Lyanna Lindgren, and Mark Finkelstein. Rabbi Kaufman conducted a session on current events affecting Israel. Lindgren, director of the Jewish Federation Community School, led a session on Jewish education. The meeting enables the exchange of new information, discussion of topics of concern, and provides a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and renew old friendships. The program was organized by JCRC with assistance from Hillel and Jewish Federation of Quad Cities.

The Directories Are In!

Pick up your copy at the Federation office. Copies are $10 each or 3 for $25.

A sincere thank you to all who helped compile the information and did the proofreading.

Thank you to those who helped subsidize this publication.

Please note the corrections to directory on page 19

september/october 10

the greater d es m o ines

Jewish Press

Published 6 times annually by theJewish Federation of Greater Des Moines under the auspices of the Jewish Community Relations Committee JEWISH PRESS CHAIR Heidi Moskowitz Editorial Board Gil Cranberg Debbie Gitchell Harlan Hockenberg Sheldon Rabinowitz Mark S. Finkelstein, Editor Thomas Wolff, Art/Marketing Director

???????????? JEWISH FEDERATION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Judy Deutch, President Don Blumenthal, Vice President Barb Hirsch-Giller, President-Elect Stuart Oxer, Treasurer Jule Goldstein, Secretary Beth Ohringer Wm. "Jake" Jacobs Neil Salowitz, Immediate Past President Elaine Steinger, Executive Director AGENCY CHAIRS Caspe Terrace Facilities John Mandelbaum, Chair Caspe Terrace and Special Programming Tammy Abdulghani, Co-chair Wendi Harris, Co-chair Education Brian Pearl, Chair Jewish Community Relations Steve Schoenebaum, Chair Jewish Family Services Jule Goldstein, Chair

???????????? The Greater Des Moines Jewish Press 910 Polk Blvd. Des Moines, IA 50312 515-277-6321 jcrc@ Opinions expressed in The Greater Des Moines Jewish Press are not necessarily those of the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines, its committees, or its staff. Unsigned editorials express the opinion of the paper's Editorial Board. Inserts to the Jewish Press may not necessarily bear endorsement of the Jewish Federation We are always happy to consider articles and information for publication. We reserve the right to edit submissions for space considerations and clarity. Vol. 27, No. 1, Sept/Oct 2010

The Greater Des Moines Jewish Press 3

[education]

Jewish Federation Community School

A NEW BEGINNING. Our first day of Hebrew School is Sept. 12

V-shi'nantam l'vanekha, "and you shall teach them diligently to your children." (Deuteronomy 6:7) The success of our Religious school depends largely on a working relationship between the school, parents and congregations. Together, as partners, we shall teach all of our children the richness of our heritage, help them to achieve a positive Jewish identity and encourage them to actively participate in Jewish life at home, in the community and in the world. We shall continue to provide opportunities to experience relevant aspects of Jewish practice and tradition through active experiences, participation, and celebration of holidays. Parents demonstrate the importance of Jewish education by attending services, observing holidays, celebrations in the home, and ensuring regular attendance and participation in school and congregational events.

Our first day of Sunday/Hebrew School pre-K-6th grade is Sept. 12 with parent orientation. First day of Wednesday/Hebrew School 3rd-6th grade is Sept. 15. Hebrew High School starts Wednesday, Oct. 6th. All classes are at the Temple with Jr/Sr High School returning to Tifereth in January after the renovation. Report cards will be sent in December and June for grades K ? 5th. Testing will occur throughout our curriculum (Hebrew, Judaics, Bible). Homework and additional materials will be sent home for parents to work with their children. In the upper grades (4th ? 6th) students will perfect their prayer Hebrew reading abilities.

We are committed to insure that your child is receiving a top-notch Jewish education. We ask parents and students to be accountable by attending class, doing homework, studying for quizzes and tests, attending services and participating in holiday celebrations. We have your children for such a short time in their life. Our job is to help you raise a Jewish child.

There will be no classes on Wednesday, Sept. 22 (erev Sukkot) and Wednesday Sept. 29 (Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah). This year, most of our holidays fall during the week, which means we'll have plenty of Sundays and Wednesdays to educate your child.

If you did not receive registration information or if you have any questions, please contact Lyanna at 277-5566 or or email at jfcsdm@. SHANAH TOVA

The beginning of the JFCS school year is a perfect time to talk about Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and new beginnings. Celebrating the start of a fresh year gives us an excellent opportunity to look at how much we have grown, to reflect on where we've been in the year past, and to peek ahead to where we will be going in the coming year.

It seems fitting that we as Jews celebrate our new year at the same time that Sunday School begins. The name Rosh Hashanah literally means "head of the year." In fact, Rosh Hashanah is said to be the day on which the world was created. For that reason, it is seen as the Jewish New Year or the world's birthday.

During this month of Holy Days, we engage in self-evaluation and renewal. It is also a time when G-d opens the Book of Life in which (metaphorically) every living person's fate for the future is recorded and a fate for each human "penciled in." On Yom Kippur, this fate is sealed. Prayer is one of the main activities connected with Yom Kippur; synagogues are filled! It is a holiday when families and friends gather for a festive meal both before and after the holiday. For these reasons, Yom Kippur binds Jews not only to G-d, but also to each other.

Sukkot is the fall harvest festival of the Jewish calendar and is celebrated just before the earth goes into dormancy for the winter. Historically, sukkah (meaning temporary booth; plural is Sukkot) reminds us of the temporary dwelling lived in by the Israelites during the 40 years spent wandering in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan (now known as Israel) after the Exodus.

Agriculturally, Sukkot is the last of the three pilgrimage festivals when ancient Jews would pack the best of their seasonal crops and journey to The Temple in Jerusalem. Once there, the Jews offered sacrifices and celebrated as a community, thanking G-d for the bounty of that year's harvest.

Simchat Torah celebrates the annual cycle of reading the Torah (the "Five Books of Moses" ? Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). Each year on this joyous holiday, Jews worldwide complete the cycle of Torah reading (the last verses of the book of Deuteronomy) and immediately begin reading from the book of Genesis. During services, the Torah is taken out of the ark and paraded around the synagogue. Children are given festive flags and follow behind the Torah parade waving their flags.

Look Who's Raising Jews

By Jennifer Thompson

Ms. Thompson's Op Ed was published originally in the May 28, 2010 edition of the Forward at articles/128173/

What do you call people who study Jewish traditions, regularly attend synagogue and work hard to raise Jewish children? Often we simply call such people "non-Jews."

According to the 2000?01 National Jewish Population Survey, 24% of people living in Jewish households are not Jews, the result of an intermarriage rate that was estimated to have reached 47% by the century's end. With a third of intermarried couples raising their children as Jews, this adds up to a large number of non-Jewish parents who are raising Jewish children.

The Jewish community should be proud of its programming that educates and encourages intermarried couples in their Jewish practices. Such programming is becoming the norm: Even the Conservative movement, which is clear in its opposition to intermarriage, is focusing more on outreach to intermarried families, the topic of a historic workshop hosted earlier this year by the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Nevertheless, we are not yet as engaged as we should be in a deeper conversation about what kind of membership a Jewish person's non-Jewish family members have in the Jewish community.

The language we use to talk about non-Jews is an important way of signaling who and what they are to Jewish communities. Yet we still don't have a way to succinctly and accurately describe non-Jewish family members other than calling them "nonJews." This designation creates the false impression that Jewish people's nonJewish family members are as distant from the Jewish people as any other nonJew -- an impression that is ultimately counterproductive.

For the past five years, I have been researching the experiences of intermarried Jewish families for my doctoral dissertation. My research has focused on the Jewish community of Atlanta, where the rate of intermarriage was nearly 70%, as measured in 2006. I encountered many families in which non-Jewish partners were deeply engaged in Jewish life.

In many instances, a Jewish man married a non-Jewish woman -- sometimes a believing Christian, sometimes not -- and insisted that their children be raised as Jews. But the Jewish man often did not actually help with Jewish practices in the home, leaving his non-Jewish wife to educate herself about Judaism and lead the family's Jewish practice.

In such cases, the non-Jewish wife could easily have declined to take on this chore, but it was often important to her to feel that her children's Jewishness had integrity. The non-Jewish women I met in the course of my research were selecting synagogues for their

families to join, earnestly learning about Jewish traditions and baking challah from scratch. (Many of the families I describe here align themselves with Reform congregations, which recognize patrilineal descent, but one could imagine instances in Conservative, and even Orthodox, communities in which a non-Jewish mother is raising a child who has converted or will end up converting to Judaism.)

I've also met non-Jewish men -- like my own husband -- who attend synagogue with their Jewish wives and kids and participate actively in Jewish home and communal life. One man with no plans to become Jewish even directs his synagogue's choir, overseeing weekly practices and recording sessions.

I know that not all intermarried couples are this dedicated to Judaism, and that many are quite secular or practice Christianity. Not all nonJews married to Jews have the same relationship with the Jewish community. Yet we have no way of referring to women and men like the ones I described earlier except as "non-Jews," distant and excluded from the Jewish community. It is ironic that these non-Jews are helping to ensure Jewish continuity, as they and their Jewish spouses understand it, even though they have no recognized place in the Jewish community.

Rabbis whom I interviewed as part of my research were deeply concerned about the needs of individuals as well as the integrity of the Jewish tradition, but I did not hear of any sustained conversation among them about what to call people in this situation. Often, our communal focus seems fixed on encouraging conversion, which is a safe, traditional answer, but it's not an answer that speaks to many of the people at whom it's ostensibly aimed. Some rabbis have floated the idea of ger toshav, a "resident alien," which would recognize the non-Jew's place in the community without requiring conversion, but that doesn't seem to have caught on either.

Giving these non-Jews a more specific name would show that we're taking their contributions to the Jewish community seriously. Perhaps the name should come from the people themselves. The emergence of groups like the Mothers Circle, an educational support group for non-Jewish women raising Jewish children, is helping to generate a consciousness among their members that they share experiences and concerns. As that consciousness develops, perhaps a new name will spontaneously emerge. I hope that if it does, we will be listening and ready to hear the name of these people who are part of our community, even if we don't fully realize it yet.

Jennifer Thompson recently received her doctorate in ethics and society from Emory University. Dr. Jennifer Thompson is serving as a consultant on interfaith family outreach to Tifereth Israel Synagogue.

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Engman Camp Shalom

Meet Lior Rippel

The Jewish Community Center's summer Shliach (visiting Israeli) Program is part of The Youth and Hehalutz Department and Jewish Agency's Security Department within the Government of Israel. Each candidate is carefully screened in Israel; going through an extensive interview process, including a reference check and participates in a week long shlichim orientation seminar. The purpose of having a Shliach (male) or shlicha (female) at Engman Camp Shalom is to impart a love of Jewish culture to campers and serve as goodwill ambassadors for the Jewish State. The Shliach position also serves as an Israeli Cultural expert teaching campers Israeli words, dances, and themed crafts as well as helping plan Friday afternoon Shabbat and other camp programs.

This year's Engman Camp Shalom Shlicha was Lior Rippel. She is 20 years old and served as a commander in the IDF (Israel Defense Force). She has also been involved with the Tel Aviv Scouts

Musical group and has not only traveled to America but also Singapore, Thailand, Mexico and Canada. Jewish Press: Tell us about your hometown. Where is it? What is it like? Lior Ripple: I grew up in Tel Aviv, which is the second largest city in Israel. It's called "the nonstop city" and it is the most famous city in Israel. Tel Aviv is located on the Mediterranean shore, in the center of the country. It's a great city, with lots of action 24 hours a day. I love living in Tel Aviv, it's the best city in the world!! JP: Tell us about your family and your life back home. LR: My family is the best! My father and my mother are both lawyers and I have two older sisters. The oldest one is working at a public relations office and the middle one is a producer on the radio. I love my family. JP: Is this your first trip to the United States? LR: This is not my first trip to the USA. I've been to New York, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. JP: What has made the biggest impression on you so far this trip? LR: The thing that made the biggest impression on me so far was the warm welcome that I got from the staff at camp and the Des Moines Jewish community. JP: What are some of the things you like most about Des Moines? LR: Des Moines is a very relaxed place, unlike Tel Aviv. At first, it was hard to get used to it, but very quickly I got used to it and I loved it. continued on page 15

Conversational Hebrew?

A new 4-week session for

beginners starts in October

Instructor: Mark Finkelstein

Interested? Contact jcrc@ or call 515-277-6321 x 218 Cost: $20 donation to Jewish Federation.

For other Hebrew classes, check with your synagogue or Temple! This class is offered by the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines.

capture lasting memories with a gift that lasts forever...

? HONOR YOUR GRANDPARENTS ? WEDDINGS ? BIRTHDAYS ? BIRTHS ? BAR / BAT MITZVAHS ? CELEBRATE YOUR CHILDREN ? REMEMBER YOUR LOVED ONES

"One person cannot plant a forest, but a community can plant a forest one tree at a time."

Purchase a tree certificate ? a gift that lasts forever. Jewish Federation Community School - 924 Polk Boulevard - Des Moines, IA 50312 For $36, a tree certificate will be mailed to the recipient. Your $36 goes towards the purchase of trees, care and maintenance.

september/october 10

The Greater Des Moines Jewish Press 5

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